Movable stairway.



F. E- BESSLER.

MOVABLE STAIRWAY. APPLICATION mu) 1min. m5.

1 ,1 88,395 Patented June 27, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHgET N g a:

Witnesses Z77 h'wentor, b l a, l l 1 y I I I r I Attorneys.

1'HB COLUMBIA PLANOunAPn cm, WASHING N F. E. BESSLER. MOVABLE STAIRWAY.

APPLlCATlON FILED 1Au.21,19|5.

1,188,395. v Patented June 27,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

III/"1111M III.

Witnesses k liventor,

1 Attorneys,

'IIIII/II II,

F. E. BESSLER.

MOVABLE STMRWAY.

APPLICATION man IAN.27, 1915. v

Patented June 27, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

fl Inventor,

Attorneys.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 120-. WASHINGTON. D- c.

FRANK E. BESSLER, OF AKRON, OHIO.

MOVABLE STAIRWAY. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. BESSLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Movable Stairway, of which the following is aspecification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a structureof that geneneral type in which a slidable stairway is supported upon ahingedly mounted panel, the construction under consideration beingemployed ordinarily for providing a stairway for a scuttle when it isdesired that the space below the scuttle shall be encumbered by thestairway only at the time that the stairway is in use.

One object of the present invention is to provide novel means forcontrolling the drum whereby the panel is elevated and whereby thestairway is slid.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel hand rail for astairway and panel of the sort above mentioned.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 shows in side elevation, amovable stairway constructed in accordance with the present invention,the panal being lifted to a closed position and the stairwayproper'being retracted. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the structure shown inFig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing the stairway and the'panel independing position; Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 8;Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 55 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a crosssection on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of theactuating drum and attendant mechanism; Fig. 8 is a sectional detail,showing in elevation, and at right angles to the showing of Fig. 7,sundry parts depicted in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a fragmental top plan showingthe panel arms, parts being broken away; Fig. 10 is a Specification ofLetters Patent.

Patented June 27,1916.

Application filed January 27, 1915. Serial N 0. 4,710.

side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a section ofthe actuating drum.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 indicates a portion of aceiling provided with an opening 2. So far as the ceiling cooperateswith the hinged panel and the slidable stairway hereinafter described,the ceiling may be considered as a frame and will be referred tohereinafter by that term.

The invention includes a panel 3 mounted to swing vertically andconnected with the frame 1 by means of a hinge 4. A flexible element 55is secured to the panel 3 and depends from the same, to the end that thepanel may be pulled downwardly, from the position shown in Fig. 1 to theposition shown in Fig. 3. A stairway 14is mounted to slide upon thepanel 3 and comprises stiles 15. Duplicate mechanisms are provided foroperatively connecting the slidable stairway 14 with thehingedly'mounted panel 3, these mechanisms being located upon oppositesides of 'the stairway. But one of these mechanisms will be described indetail, and when, in the description, a pointis arrived at whereduplication no longer is present, notice will be given.

A support 5is secured to the panel 3 adjacent the upper endthereof and asimilar support 6 is secured to the panel adjacent the lower end of thepanel Referring now to Fig- 5 it will be observed that straps 7 aresecured to the inner faces of the supports 5 and 6, the straps 7terminating in angular-1y disposed fingers 8, registering in grooves orguides 16 formed in the stiles 15. By the structure above described, thestairway 14 is connected with the'panel 3 to slide in the direction ofthe length of the panel.

Through the oppositely disposed supports 5 pinched between the support 5or 6 and the corresponding strap 7 (all of which will be readilyunderstood from Fig. 5). Noting Fig. 4 and comparing the same withFigs.3 and 1 it will be seen that an abutment 19 is secured to one ofthe stiles adjacent the lower end of the stairway, the abutment 19 beingprovided with a finger 18 which is located in the groove 16. A similarabutment 19 is mounted upon the stile 15 adjacent the upper end of thestairway. When the panel 3 is swung upwardly as shown in Fig. 1 and whenthe stairway 14 is retracted, the

' abutment 19 cotiperates with the support 6 to limit the slidingmovement of the stairway in one direction. rVhen the panel 3 1s swungdownwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, and

when the stairway 14 is advanced and lowered, the abutment 17eiioperates with the upper support 5 to limit the downward slidingmovement of the stairway. The abutment 17 is constructed like theabutment 19 shown in Fig. 4.

Passing now to Figs. 7 and 8 and comparing the same with Figs. 1 and 3it will be noted that a bracket 20 is mounted on the frame 1, a yoke 21being pivoted to the bracket 20, as shown at 22, to swing in asubstantially vertical plane, which plane is parallel to the planedefined by the panel 3, as the latter sweeps vertically upon its hinge4. A shaft 23 is mounted in the yoke 21 and j ournaled for rotation uponthe shaft i 23 is a drum 62. A spiral spring 24 is secured at one end asindicated at 26 in Fig. 11 to the shaft 23, the other end of the spring24 terminating in a hook 25, engaged through an opening in the tread ofthe drum 62. A ratchet wheel 33 is secured to the shaft 23 and coactswith a pawl 34 pivoted to the yoke 21. The shaft 23 is held againstrotation by the pawl 34 and the ratchet wheel 33 under normal workingconditions, but when it is desired to adjust the tension of the spring24, the pawl and ratchet mechanism above described permits thisoperation, a wrench or key (not shown) being applied to the shaft 23,one end of which is squared as indicated at 27 for this purpose.

It has been pointed out hereinbefore that the yoke 21 which carries thedrum '62 is.

pivoted to the bracket 20, and a means is provided whereby when thepanel 3 and the bracket 20. It is to be observed that the r at pivotelement 30 is located eccentrically with respect to the pivot element32. The

ary arm 35 which is pivoted at 36 to a bracket 37 mounted on the panel3. The secondary arm 35 is provided with a finger 38, cotiperating withone edge of the primary arm 31 aswill be understood best from Fig. 3, tomaintain the arms 31 and 35 in approximate alinement, when the panel 3is swung downwardly and when the stairway 14 is lowered, as shown inFig. 3. An adjustable pivotal connection is afforded between the primaryarm 31 and the secondary arm 35, and reference may now be had properlyto Figs. 9 and 10 for a clear understanding of the details of thisfeature of the invention. The primary arm 31 is provided adjacent itslower end with a longitudinally extended slot 39 and terminates at itslower end in an offset 46. In the secondary arm 35, adjacent its upperend, are formed a plurality of threaded holes 40. An angle member 41 isapplied to the outer face of the primary arm 31 and in the angle member41 are a plurality of smooth holes 42. Through any one of the holes 42and through any one of the holes 40 passes a bolt 43, threaded into theholes 40 and provided with a nut 44 which is located adjacent thesecondary arm 35. A. screw 45 is journaled in the offset end 46 of theprimary arm 31 and is threaded into the projecting portion of the anglemember 41. There is a lock nut 47 on the screw 45 which engages theelement 46. It will be understood that the bolt 43' may be mounted inany of the openings 4042 to effect an increase in the effective lengthof the arms 35 and 31, and by loosening the lock nut 47 and rotating thescrew 45, a further and liner adjustment may be made.

A sheave 48 is journaled in a frame 49 which is pivoted as indicated at50 to the bracket 37 The flexible element 51 is secured at one end tothe drum 62, as shown at 52 in Fig. 7, the flexible element passingaround the sheave 48, and the lower end of v the flexible element beingsecured to an eye 53 formed upon one end of a rod 64 (see Fig. 4) whichconnects the stiles 15.

The foregoing terminates the description of the duplicated portions ofthe structure.

Located at one side of the stairway 14 and preferably at the right handside thereof is a hand rail which is a composite structure. The handrail is longitudinally extensible and comprises coiiperating bars 56 and57 the bars being connected for relative longitudinal movement by meansof clips 58 (see Fig. 6) secured, each, to one of the bars 56 and 57 andregistering slidably in grooves 59. The member 56 of the hand rail issupported by a pair of posts 60, rigidly attached to one of the stiles15 of the stairway 14. The uppcr end of the hand rail 57 is secured to apost 61. This post 61 forms a part of the support 5 which is located atthe upper right hand corner of the panel 3.

This detail will be understood readily, without specific illustration bypresuming that the member 5, shown in Fig. 5, but reversed, owing to itslocation at the upper right hand corner of the panel, is elongated toform the post 61.

ihe operation of the structure above described is as follows:Presupposing that the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 1, theflexible element 55 is grasped and the free end of the panel 3 is pulleddownwardly, the panel swinging upon its hinged connection 4 withtheframe 1. The panel 3 will then appear as shown in Fig. 3, the arms 31-35moving from the folded position of Fig. 1 to the approximately alinedposition of Fig. 3. When the panel 3 is inclined as shown in Fig. 3, thestairway 14 is slid downwardly manually, or if the stairway issufliciently heavy, the same will slide downwardly under its inertia,the latter operation ordinarily being the one which takes place.

' Downward sliding movement of the panel is limited by the engagementbetween the abutment 17 and the support 5, the stiles 15 of the stairway14 sliding along the wheels 11. As the stairway 14 moves from theposition shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 3, the flexible element51 will be drawn out, the

same moving over the sheave 48. By this operation, the drum 62 will berotated upon the shaft 23 which is held fixed by the ratchet wheel 33and the pawl 34. The spring 24 will thus be put under tension.

It is to be noted that as the arms 35-31 move from the position shown inFig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 3, the link 29 will be actuated,owing to the eccentric relation existing between the pivot elements 32and 30. In this manner, the yoke 21 will be swung upon its pivotalmounting 22 and the drum 62 will be tilted, so that the flexible element51 may be led fairly therefrom.

In order to restore the parts as shown in Fig. 3 to the positions shownin Fig. 1, the panel 3 is swung upwardly upon its hinged mounting 4 andthe stairway 14 is slid upwardly on the panel, both of these operationsbeing facilitated by the action of the spring actuated drum 62 and theflexible element 51. During the operation last above described, the yoke21 will be swung on its pivotal mounting 22 due to the action of thelink 29 and parts connected therewith, the flexible element 51 being ledonto the drum 62 without over-treading.

Referring to the hand rail structure, it is to be observed that the bar56 of the hand rail is connected with the stairway 14, the bar 57 beingconnected with the panel 3, as hereinbefore described. Therefore, whenthe panel 3 andthe stairway 14 are moved from the positions shown inFig. 3 to the positions shown in. Fig. 1, the Constituent Having thusdescribed the invention, what is claimed is I.-

1. Ina device of the class described, a hingedly mounted stairway panel;a yoke; means for supporting the yoke for swinging movement; a yieldablyactuated drum supported by the yoke; a flexible element connected withthe drum and operatively connected with the panel; and mechanismoperatively connecting the panel with the yoke to swing the yoke whenthe panel is moved.

2. In a device of the class described, a hingedly mounted panel; astairway mounted to slide thereon; a yoke; means for supporting the yokefor swinging movement; a yieldably. actuated drum supported by the yoke;a flexible element connected with'the drum and with the stairway; andmechanism operatively connected with the panel and with the yoke toswing the yoke when the panel is moved.

3. In a device of the class described, a hingedly mounted panel; astairway mounted to slide thereon; a yoke; means for supporting the yokefor swinging movement; a yieldably actuated drum supported by themembers 56 and 57 of the hand rail will telescope upon each other.

I so

yoke; a flexible element connected with the drum and with the stairway;means upon the panel for slidably engaging the intermediate portion ofthe flexible element; and mechanism operatively connecting the panelwith the yoke to swing the yoke when the panel is moved.

4. A device of the class described comprising as constituent parts, ahingedly mounted panel and stairway mounted to slide there on; a yoke;means for supporting the yoke for swinging movement; a yieldablyactuated drum supported by the yoke; a flexible member connected withthe drum and operatively connected to one of said constituent parts; andmechanism operatively connecting the yoke with one of said constituentparts to swing the yoke when said constituent part is moved.

5. In a device of the class described, a hingedly mounted panel; astairway mounted to slide thereon; a longitudinally extensible hand railcomprising parts connected for relative longitudinal movement; means forconnecting one of said parts to the panel; and means for connecting theother of said parts to the stairway.

6. In a device of the class described, a frame; a stairway panel hingedto the frame; primary and secondary arms forming a connection betweenthe panel and the frame, the primary arm being provided with anelongated opening and the second ary arm being provided with anaperture; a supplemental member applied to the primary arm and providedwith an aperture; a pi ed element located. in the apertures and in theopening; and an adjusting means connecting the primary arm with thesupplemental member.

.7. In a device of the class described, a frame; a stairway panel hingedto the frame; primary and secondary arms forming a connection betweenthe panel and the frame, the primary arm being provided with anelongated opening and the secondary arm being provided with a pluralityof apertures; a supplemental member applied to the primary arm andprovided with a plurality of apertures registering with the apertures:of the secondary arm; a pivot element extended through the opening andengaged with one pair of the ali'ned apertures; and a screw connectingthe supplemental member with the primary arm.

8.. In a device of the class described, a hingedly mounted stairwaypanel; a yoke; means for supporting the yoke for swing in-g movement; ayieldabl'y actuated drum carried by the yoke; a flexible elementconnected with the drum and operatively connected with the panel; a pairof pivotally connected arms, one of which is connected with the panel;means for upholding the other of said arms; and a link pivotedeccentrically to the last specified arm and connected with the yoke.

9. In a device of the class described, a 1

frame; a panel hinged to the frame; a stairway mounted to slide upon thepanel; foldable arms pivotally connected with the frame and with thepanel; a yoke mounted to swing upon the frame; a yieldably actuated drumjournaled on the yoke; a flexible element connected with the drum andoperatively connected with the stairway; and

a link connected with the yoke, the link being eccentrically connectedwith the frame carried arm.

10. In a device of the class described, a frame; cooperating elementscomprising a panel hinged to the frame and a stairway mounted to slideon the panel foldable arms forming a connection between the panel andthe frame; a yoke mounted to swing on the frame; a yieldably actuateddrum carried by the yoke; means for connecting the yoke with one of thearms to. tilt the yoke upon relative movement between the arms; and aflexible element connected with the drum and with one of saidcooperating elements.

Intestimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretov afiixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK BESSLER.

Witnesses:

Oman RODERICK, DOROTHY SABIN.

Copies of this. patent. may be. attained for; five cents each, byaddressing: the: Commissioner of. Patents, Washington, D. G.

